Validation of Workloads at 180 and 190 Heart Rate as Predictors of Maximal Oxygen Consumption for College Women

Higher Educatio

Extensive Cortical Convergence to Primate Reticulospinal Pathways.

Early evolution of the motor cortex included development of connections to brainstem reticulospinal neurons; these projections persist in primates. In this study, we examined the organization of corticoreticular connections in five macaque monkeys (one male) using both intracellular and extracellular recordings from reticular formation neurons, including identified reticulospinal cells. Synaptic responses to stimulation of different parts of primary motor cortex (M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA) bilaterally were assessed. Widespread short latency excitation, compatible with monosynaptic transmission over fast-conducting pathways, was observed, as well as longer latency responses likely reflecting a mixture of slower monosynaptic and oligosynaptic pathways. There was a high degree of convergence: 56% of reticulospinal cells with input from M1 received projections from M1 in both hemispheres; for SMA, the equivalent figure was even higher (70%). Of reticulospinal neurons with input from the cortex, 78% received projections from both M1 and SMA (regardless of hemisphere); 83% of reticulospinal cells with input from M1 received projections from more than one of the tested M1 sites. This convergence at the single cell level allows reticulospinal neurons to integrate information from across the motor areas of the cortex, taking account of the bilateral motor context. Reticulospinal connections are known to strengthen following damage to the corticospinal tract, such as after stroke, partially contributing to functional recovery. Extensive corticoreticular convergence provides redundancy of control, which may allow the cortex to continue to exploit this descending pathway even after damage to one area.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The reticulospinal tract (RST) provides a parallel pathway for motor control in primates, alongside the more sophisticated corticospinal system. We found extensive convergent inputs to primate reticulospinal cells from primary and supplementary motor cortex bilaterally. These redundant connections could maintain transmission of voluntary commands to the spinal cord after damage (e.g., after stroke or spinal cord injury), possibly assisting recovery of function

The experiences of spirituality among adults with mental health difficulties: a qualitative systematic review

Aims Despite an increasing awareness of the importance of spirituality in mental health contexts, a ‘religiosity gap’ exists in the difference in value placed on spirituality and religion by professionals compared with service users. This may be due to a lack of understanding about the complex ways people connect with spirituality within contemporary society and mental health contexts, and can result in people’s spiritual needs being neglected, dismissed or pathologised within clinical practice. The aim of this qualitative systematic review is to characterise the experiences of spirituality among adults with mental health difficulties in published qualitative research. Methods An electronic search of seven databases was conducted along with forward and backward citation searching, expert consultation and hand-searching of journals. 38 studies were included from 4944 reviewed papers. The review protocol was pre-registered (PROSPERO:CRD42017080566). Results A thematic synthesis identified six key themes: Meaning-making (sub-themes: Multiple explanations; Developmental journey; Destiny versus autonomy), Identity, Service-provision, Talk about it, Interaction with symptoms (sub-themes: Interactive meaning-making; Spiritual disruption) and Coping (sub-themes: Spiritual practices; Spiritual relationship; Spiritual struggles; Preventing suicide), giving the acronym MISTIC. Conclusions This qualitative systematic review provides evidence of the significant role spirituality plays in the lives of many people who experience mental health difficulties. It indicates the importance of mental health professionals being aware of and prepared to support the spiritual dimension of people using services. The production of a theory-based framework can inform efforts by health-providers to understand and address people’s spiritual needs as part of an integrated holistic approach towards care

What Causes Carbonates to Form “Shrubby” Morphologies? An Anthropocene Limestone Case Study

The South Atlantic Aptian “Pre-Salt” shrubby carbonate successions offshore Brazil and Angola are of major interest due to their potential hydrocarbon accumulations. Although the general sedimentology of these deposits is widely recognized to be within saline, alkaline lakes in rift volcanic settings, the specific genesis of shrubby carbonate morphologies remains unclear. This study reports the first petrographically comparable shrubby carbonates amongst other carbonate microfacies from an Anthropocene limestone formed under hyperalkaline (pH 9–12) and hypersaline (conductivity 425–3200 μS) conditions at ambient temperature (12.5–13°C) (Consett, United Kingdom). This discovery allows us to capitalize on exceptional long-term hydrochemical monitoring efforts from the site, demonstrating that shrubby carbonates occur uniquely within the waters richest in calcium (∼240 mg/L) and with highest pH (∼12) and consequently with very high levels of supersaturation. However, the physical distribution of shrubs is more comparable with estimated local kinetic precipitation rate than it is to thermodynamic saturation, indicating that the fundamental control on shrub formation arises from crystal surface processes. The shrubby carbonate we report grows in the presence of significant diatomaceous and cyanobacterial biofilms, despite the highly alkaline conditions. These biofilms are lost from the deposited material early due to the high solubility of organic and silica within hyperalkaline settings, and this loss contributes to very high intercrystalline porosity. Despite the presence of these microbes, few if any of the fabrics we report would be considered as “boundstones” despite it being clear that most fabrics are being deposited in the presence of abundant extra-cellular polymeric substances. We are aware of no previous petrographic work on anthropogenic carbonates of this type, and recommend further investigation to capitalize on what can be learned from these “accidental laboratories.”

A new approach to social behavior simulation: the mask model

This paper proposes a new perspective, based on the concept of social masks, for the simulation of a realistic NPC (Non-Player Character) behavior. The Mask Model goal is to support AI techniques for autonomous agents by encouraging or discouraging behaviors according to the social environment and by providing knowledge about possible reactions to the agent actions. In this approach, the NPC tendencies are controlled by the interactions of three overlapping mask layers: self- perception layer, social layer and interpersonal layer. The masks mould the tendencies, the feelings and the ethics of a NPC. By changing the links between characters and masks, a wide variety of different behaviors and story-lines may arise. The paper present an algorithm for the selection of the actions and an example implementation

Combining frequency and time domain approaches to systems with multiple spike train input and output

A frequency domain approach and a time domain approach have been combined in an investigation of the behaviour of the primary and secondary endings of an isolated muscle spindle in response to the activity of two static fusimotor axons when the parent muscle is held at a fixed length and when it is subjected to random length changes. The frequency domain analysis has an associated error process which provides a measure of how well the input processes can be used to predict the output processes and is also used to specify how the interactions between the recorded processes contribute to this error. Without assuming stationarity of the input, the time domain approach uses a sequence of probability models of increasing complexity in which the number of input processes to the model is progressively increased. This feature of the time domain approach was used to identify a preferred direction of interaction between the processes underlying the generation of the activity of the primary and secondary endings. In the presence of fusimotor activity and dynamic length changes imposed on the muscle, it was shown that the activity of the primary and secondary endings carried different information about the effects of the inputs imposed on the muscle spindle. The results presented in this work emphasise that the analysis of the behaviour of complex systems benefits from a combination of frequency and time domain methods

Lateral line system diversification during the early stages of ecological speciation in cichlid fish

Background: The mechanosensory lateral line system is an important sensory modality in fishes, informing multiple behaviours related to survival including finding food and navigating in dark environments. Given its ecological importance, we may expect lateral line morphology to be under disruptive selection early in the ecological speciation process. Here we quantify the lateral line system morphology of two ecomorphs of the cichlid fish Astatotilapia calliptera in crater Lake Masoko that have diverged from common ancestry within the past 1,000 years. Results: Based on geometric morphometric analyses of CT scans, we show that the zooplanktivorous benthic ecomorph that dominates the deeper waters of the lake has large cranial lateral line canal pores, relative to those of the nearshore invertebrate-feeding littoral ecomorph found in the shallower waters. In contrast, fluorescence imaging revealed no evidence for divergence between ecomorphs in the number of either superficial or canal neuromasts. We illustrate the magnitude of the variation we observe in Lake Masoko A. calliptera in the context of the neighbouring Lake Malawi mega-radiation that comprises over 700 species. Conclusions: These results provide the first evidence of divergence in this often-overlooked sensory modality in the early stages of ecological speciation, suggesting that it may have a role in the broader adaptive radiation process

The Molecular Chaperone HSP90 Promotes Notch Signaling in the Germline of Caenorhabditis elegans

In a genetic screen to identify genes that promote GLP-1/Notch signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans germline stem cells, we found a single mutation, om40, defining a gene called ego-3. ego-3(om40) causes several defects in the soma and the germline, including paralysis during larval development, sterility, delayed proliferation of germline stem cells, and ectopic germline stem cell proliferation. Whole genome sequencing identified om40 as an allele of hsp-90, previously known as daf-21, which encodes the C. elegans ortholog of the cytosolic form of HSP90. This protein is a molecular chaperone with a central position in the protein homeostasis network, which is responsible for proper folding, structural maintenance, and degradation of proteins. In addition to its essential role in cellular function, HSP90 plays an important role in stem cell maintenance and renewal. Complementation analysis using a deletion allele of hsp-90 confirmed that ego-3 is the same gene. hsp-90(om40) is an IN conservative missense mutation of a highly conserved residue in the middle domain of HSP-90. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of hsp-90 expression partially phenocopied hsp-90(om40), confirming the loss-of-function nature ofhsp-90(om40). Furthermore, reduced HSP-90 activity enhanced the effect of reduced function of both the GLP-1 receptor and thedownstream LAG-1 transcription factor. Taken together, our results provide the first experimental evidence of an essential role for HSP90 inNotch signaling in development

Probabilistic identification of cerebellar cortical neurones across species.

Despite our fine-grain anatomical knowledge of the cerebellar cortex, electrophysiological studies of circuit information processing over the last fifty years have been hampered by the difficulty of reliably assigning signals to identified cell types. We approached this problem by assessing the spontaneous activity signatures of identified cerebellar cortical neurones. A range of statistics describing firing frequency and irregularity were then used, individually and in combination, to build Gaussian Process Classifiers (GPC) leading to a probabilistic classification of each neurone type and the computation of equi-probable decision boundaries between cell classes. Firing frequency statistics were useful for separating Purkinje cells from granular layer units, whilst firing irregularity measures proved most useful for distinguishing cells within granular layer cell classes. Considered as single statistics, we achieved classification accuracies of 72.5% and 92.7% for granular layer and molecular layer units respectively. Combining statistics to form twin-variate GPC models substantially improved classification accuracies with the combination of mean spike frequency and log-interval entropy offering classification accuracies of 92.7% and 99.2% for our molecular and granular layer models, respectively. A cross-species comparison was performed, using data drawn from anaesthetised mice and decerebrate cats, where our models offered 80% and 100% classification accuracy. We then used our models to assess non-identified data from awake monkeys and rabbits in order to highlight subsets of neurones with the greatest degree of similarity to identified cell classes. In this way, our GPC-based approach for tentatively identifying neurones from their spontaneous activity signatures, in the absence of an established ground-truth, nonetheless affords the experimenter a statistically robust means of grouping cells with properties matching known cell classes. Our approach therefore may have broad application to a variety of future cerebellar cortical investigations, particularly in awake animals where opportunities for definitive cell identification are limited